Ant Invasion
by Go10
Summary: Things get really awkward between Chyna and Fletcher.  Can they stay good friends?  Meanwhile, the A.N.T. crew goes on a "field trip." Set in 3rd year at Webster High.  *COMPLETE* Yay me!
1. Chyna, Hurt Me Much?

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 1

So this was it. The moment Fletcher Quimby had been waiting for. The sun was setting now, and Chyna should be coming at any moment. He was seated out in the boardwalk, not too far from Webster High, at this table set for two.

He and Olive had planned it for some time now. It took a lot of whisperings behind Chyna's back, some near slip ups here and there, and painful, embarrassing moments to get here, but he had managed to do it, and all with his pride, mostly intact.

He smiled, red faced, at the memories.

Tip tap, tip tap, went his fingers as they drummed lightly over the table, draped with a white tablecloth and a candle right in the middle. He felt the heat rise in his face. He didn't know whether it was from the sun, setting now but still really large and high in the sky, or from his anxiety over the date.

A date. Could it be called a date, if one side of the date was tricked?

Very suddenly, he felt his heart race. What if Chyna didn't take kindly to the trickery? He could picture her now, her trademark glare fixed on him. He felt himself shake at that mental picture.

Maybe it wasn't too late to call it off. He would call Olive, tell her to tell Chyna something, anything, and he could make off the boardwalk without a scene happening.

He didn't want his best friend mad at him. He didn't know how he'd take it.

He flipped his phone over, and it made a big jump in his hands when a familiar voice spooked him: "Hey, Fletcher!"

He looked up to see his best friend, her large eyes, her smile stretched from ear to ear. She was dressed in a pink dress with matching sandals. Her hair was done up, and it took all of his composure not to swoon openly at the sight.

"Oh hey…! …Chyna. You look… oh hey! What's up?" He really didn't know what else to say. He diverted his eyes to the waves crashing on the beach to keep from staring at his best friend in a dress.

Chyna rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. She sat down at the seat opposite him. "So I guess you and I are kinda early. Olive said the time was 6:35 pm sharp. It's like 6:40," she looked at the time, "maybe the others are still on the way over. And why are there just two seats?"

"Yea, uhh – about that," Fletcher laughed nervously. When he was planning it out, he had imagined his explanation much more smoothly in his head, but already he could see his lame delivery, and Chyna's trademark raised eyebrow, or worse. "It's just…the two of us, uhh – nobody else is coming."

Fletcher could see Chyna put two and two together in her head. "But what about Olive – and her date Jason, my date Milo, and your date..."

"Chyna. My date is Chyna. Jason and Milo are just two dudes Olive made up."

Fletcher couldn't make out what was going on in Chyna's mind. She didn't look mad that she was tricked (thank god!) but she didn't smile either.

He braced himself. But good or bad, he wanted to give Chyna her going away for the summer gift. As he waited, he fiddled with it in his hands.

"Fletcher, I think it's time you and I talked."

Chyna's tone made his heart sink.

"See, I –" she began. "What I mean to say is –" She paused.

She was taking her time, and this was unusual for Chyna, Fletcher knew. Whatever it was that Chyna has on her mind, she usually spits it out. That was how Chyna was. She always spoke her mind. That was one of the things that he liked about her.

"I don't think I can ever like you as a boyfriend."

Oh, there it was.

Fletched just stood dumbly at her with his lips shaped into a small O.

Chyna made another face. "I've been – kinda knowing for a while." She laughed, a little. "I mean, you make it pretty obvious. I wanted to ignore it and hope that it'll go away. But I can see it hasn't and I don't wanna keep your hopes up – "

She stood closer to him now, her right hand on his shoulder. He'd imagined her, this close to him before, but not really like this.

"Please, Fletcher?" Her eyes bore into his. "I just want to stay friends. And always, just friends. You're a great guy but, I just don't see you, like _that_."

Fletcher's throat felt dry. He swallowed, and it hurt.

After a moment, he recovered, somewhat. "Sure yea – whatever." He laughed as if the whole thing wasn't a big deal.

Chyna smiled again. But it wasn't one of those ear to ear smiles. It was one of those smiles he'd seen her give Cameron when he'd say something she didn't know what to say to.

"Where's the food?" She asked finally.

"Still on the way over."

"O0oo0oh, special delivery! Do you think, maybe, it's not too late to send it back, get a refund? I _hate_ to think that you spent all your money, for well, nothing. Then I'd feel _bad_."

"Sure," he lied. "I can do that."

"Well ok, then!" She was back to smiling in the way that made his heart flip, usually anyway. His heart did not flip now.

It was silence after that. _Really_ awkward silence. He wasn't used to that with Chyna. Usually any other time they're together, he would be saying something stupid right now and at the very least, she'd roll her eyes at him.

But now both Chyna and Fletcher were just sitting there, and time ticked.

He was wondering how best to get away, and disappear, when finally, Chyna spoke. It was always her that made the first move. "It's 7. It's getting late. I, uhh -I'm sorry you wasted your time Fletcher."

Fletcher didn't say anything.

Chyna said, "Just remember! It's summertime. You, me, Olive, we all live practically next to each other. We'll hang out. Oooh, I know! We should go bowling together next Friday!" Chyna's eyes lit up, but Fletcher's heart did not swoon.

Chyna left the boardwalk without another word. Fletcher sat there for a long time after. It was getting dark, finally. His parents were sure to start wondering where he was. His gift for Chyna – a small portrait he had drawn in class - was still in his hands. He had forgotten all about giving it to her, despite his every intention to give it to her, good or bad.


	2. Olive the Early Bird

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 2

Olive, was always, to her knowledge, an energetic girl whose body ticked hard and fast as long as the sun was up. It meant that she was a morning person, and that she'd get sleepy as soon as the sun disappeared from the sky. She knew her fellow teens didn't quite work that way, but that was always how she'd operated.

The only exception was when she'd have sugar. Sugar would send her to hyper energetic overdrive. Even at night. It would keep her up way past her usual sleeping hours, making her do things, she'd never ever do, "sober."

Oh, sugar. Sugar was thy enemy.

So because of her unusual body clock, for a teen anyway, she was always up bright and early during summer days.

But even 3:45 am PST was asking too much of Olive. The phone rang, shrill and loud, waking the dead of the night.

She fumbled, with one eye open, for the phone next to her bed.

She flipped it open and without looking at the caller id, sleepily answered: "Hi, this is Olive."

The voice on the other end was Principal Skidmore, and she was not at all sleepy.

"Olivia Doyle!" Skidmore sang loud and clear, by way of greeting.

"Principal Skidmore?" Olive was dumbfounded, and getting more awake by the second. "Not that I don't want to hear from my favorite principal," she lied through her teeth," but you do realize, it's 3:45 in the morning right?"

"Well yes…but it's 6:45 in the afternoon over in Tokyo!"

"So you're in Tokyo?"

"Well, no. But I will be – I mean, _we_ will be, this time in two days!"

"Wait, what…?"

"I mean, yes, there is the matter of getting your parents' _permission,_" Olive could just imagine Skidmore sneering at the other end of the line, "but all that will be taken care of quite very easily."

In any other circumstance, Olive would've jumped at the chance to go overseas on vacation, especially Japan. She spoke the language quite fluently. But choosing to go with Skidmore, that was little like jumping into a pit with a snake, and no way out. She had the feeling she wasn't going to have a choice in the matter though. Principal Skidmore always had a way of making parents see things her way. It was the only reason why she hasn't been overthrown as dictator – principal, she corrected herself in her head – of the school yet.

A question was there, at the tip of her tongue, when Skidmore rudely cut across her.

"You remember that boy I told you about? The swimmer, from Japan?"

Most teens would've had a hard time remembering some really random conversation with their principal from many years before, but Olive, thanks to her eidectic memory, definitely remembered.

It was clear in her head, as if it was yesterday that Skidmore had barged into the Ant Farm asking if Olive knew Japanese. How she wanted Olive's help to recruit a Japanese teen swimmer for the Ant Farm. Skidmore had remarked how the teen "swims faster than an eel" and Olive had tried to explain to the principal that Starfish were the fastest swimmers in the water.

"Yes," and Olive was about to recant everything about her conversation with Skidmore about that boy in spit fire _Olive_ fashion when the principal cut across her again.

"It's high time we recruit that boy," interrupted Skidmore, "and we're going to get our _chance_ in two days!"

Boy, Olive could picture Skidmore salivating at the thought already. Everybody knew that the principal had always thought of the Ants as little more than her own personal trophies to add to her collection. The Japanese swimmer, whose name Olive still hadn't learned, was just another one to add to Skidmore's collection.

Olive had three very important questions pop immediately into her head. Why her? What was going to happen in two days? Why now, after three years since they've had their first conversation about the swimmer?

At the very least, Skidmore answered one of the questions, unknowingly.

"It took everything I had. You have no idea how many red tape diplomatic bureaucracy I had to cut through. All the bribing I had to do, how many _blackmails_ –" the principal stopped suddenly. Olive suspected that Skidmore realized she had said too much.

"Well anyway, you should be getting your rest. It's 3:50 in the morning for crying out loud! Don't you realize how _rude_ it is to call people in the middle of the night?" Skidmore admonished Olive as if Olive had been the one to make the phone call. Olive was about to remind her principal otherwise when she heard a distinctive click and then a dial tone at the other end. Skidmore had hung up.

Olive shrugged. It took a lot to offend the teen. She thought about going back to sleep, but thought best to open up and begin reading her Physics textbook. School was two weeks away now. It felt best to get a good head start on things.

She made a note to call Chyna in the morning, and then Fletcher. It was going to be a while. She knew Chyna wasn't going to be up for several hours, and Fletcher at least _nine_.


	3. Plan's a Brewin

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 3

Chyna Parks was up no earlier than 9:00 in the morning that day. She woke to a bright San Francisco morning greeting her from her bedroom window.

The exact moment she woke up, her phone rang.

Already? Chyna wasn't exactly a missus grumpy pants in the morning, but she wasn't a morning person either. She was somewhere in between. Her brother Cameron, on the other hand, was dead to the world until 12 noon.

She looked at the caller id. Oh wow, she was surprised to see who it was. She hadn't heard from her since school ended.

"Hi, Chyna!" Chyna heard Olive's voice loud and clear. It hurt Chyna's ears a little bit.

"Uhm, good morning, Olive." A light bulb flashed in Chyna's head. "You planned to call me at this exact time, did you." It was not a question. Chyna knew her friend well.

A pause. "Well, yea."

Chyna shrugged, even though she knew Olive wouldn't see it. "Well, ok, so what's up?" Chyna asked, this time with a much brighter tone to her voice. It felt good to her from her friend, even though the timing was kinda weird.

"I am going to be on a flight to Tokyo today," Olive announced in a very _I got my 67__th__ consecutive A_ fashion, "and I thought you should know."

"Oh," was all Chyna could say. That was news. Very sudden too. She figured Olive as the kind of friend who'd give her a heads up about these kinda things. Maybe they could've hung out before the Tokyo trip somehow. It was getting really close to the beginning of school and they haven't hung out once.

After a moment, Chyna asked. "When you coming back?"

"Don't know."

"Oh, so where are you staying over there?"

"The Tipton Hotel in Tokyo. That's about all I know about the trip, and this…" Then Olive launched into all about how Principal Skidmore, of all people, had called her up, at 3:45 _in the morning_ no less.

After Olive finished her quick little story, Chyna couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Chyna hadn't had a chance to do anything all summer. No vacations. Nothing. When she mentioned it to her dad, Darryl muttered the same answer everytime: "Vacations aren't free." And that was that.

After she finished talking with Olive, Chyna walked downstairs to the living room, thinking about something quick to fix up, only to see Cameron (her brother awake!) on the couch, eyes intent on the laptop. He kept pounding his little fists in frustration. Seeing her older brother get so worked up over what was probably nothing brought a smile to Chyna's face. He was always good for a laugh.

"I can't – nooo – why? I was the 100th guy to submit…!"

Chyna rolled her eyes and smiled. It really was too early in the morning for Cameron. He didn't make no sense.

"So what's got you all worked up this time? Urban Outfitters don't ship in size tiny no more?" She wrinkled her nose and smiled at her own joke.

Cameron shot a look at her, with an incredulous, _what in the world did you just say_ look.

"Noo! I was just on the London Tipton website. They have this contest where people send this application online to win a free trip to the Tipton hotel in Tokyo. It's where the lovely London Tipton is staying at these days, and whoever wins this free trip gets to meet her." Cameron smiled a very mischievous, Cheshire smile.

But the smile was short lived. He frowned, "the 100th submitter wins. But I was 102nd! To think, I was three spots away."

Chyna thought about what she heard about London Tipton, and how she wasn't – exactly the sharpest tool in the toolshed. "You know, Cameron. You and London Tipton would probably make the perfect couple, if she wasn't like – 5 billion times richer."

Cameron at first smiled as if his sister was paying him a compliment, but then he thought better of it. "How so?" He said suspiciously, his eyes comically big and accusing.

"Nothing," Chyna rolled her eyes, but inside her mind was starting to form a plan.

"Say, isn't London Tipton supposed to be going out with this big hot shot record producer these days?" She asked. "Mark…Templeton?" She tried out the last name and decided it sounded funny, and obnoxious.

"Yea, that's the guy! He's so awesome – " Cameron went on to list the many reasons about why that man was _awesome_. Chyna agreed with his many points but she was no longer listening to her brother.

In her mind was a plan. A way to get the vacation she wanted, spend time with her friends, and maybe, just maybe get the big break she'd always wanted.


	4. Putting It Together

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 4

Ringing. Ringing. And more ringing. It just wouldn't stop no matter how long Fletcher would ignore it. He would've refused the phone call, but that would have took physically getting up from bed to get his phone, and then that would wake him up. He didn't want that.

He had been up all last night playing video games with another Ant, Tyler Bueller. This Ant's gift was video games. He was really, really good at it. The best, as Tyler kept reminding Fletcher time and time again.

At first, Fletcher thought, _no way_ could this Ant be the absolute best at _every_ video game. He had to test this Ant's boast for himself. Fletcher was pretty good at video games himself, particularly first person shooters like Halo or Call of Duty.

But all night long Tyler was kicking his behind. He stayed up till the early hours of the morning trying to win one game, just _one game, _but Fletcher didn't win a single one.

It drove Fletcher mad. He wished he had a super cool gift like that. Not something stupid like _art_. Who cares about art? Like it did him any good. 90 percent of his time was devoted to making art of this girl, admittedly, one super cool and awesome girl, but a girl who couldn't care less about it at all.

It would've been much better to have a video game gift like Tyler. Then he would spend every summer night like Tyler blasting online gamers from Russia or Taiwan to smithereens.

The incoming phone call was persistent. It just wouldn't go away, so Fletcher, as sleepy as he was, got up from bed to take the phone call. His eyes widened like saucers when he saw who it was.

He considered not taking the phone call, but it was _Chyna_. He knew deep down, no matter what, he could never turn her away.

He answered.

Chyna got straight to the point. "Oh hey, Fletcher, by the way, do you have Angus's number by any chance? It's really, really important that I talk to him but his number's unlisted."

Fletcher felt that familiar, rising sense of jealousy. Ohh it was _Angus_ she was interested in, was it?

"The number's 512-639-4475," he said in a flat tone. He was about to hang up when Chyna spoke up again.

"So you're not going to ask me why I need the number?"

"Nope." Wasn't it obvious?

"I have this plan, Fletcher. How would you like to go to Tokyo with me and Olive?"

Fletcher was sure if he had jumped out his window, he would've soared.

X

"You want me to do what?" Angus said.

"You heard me. Do you think you can do it?" Was Chyna's answer.

Angus was insulted that Chyna would even ask. "Well, of course, I can do it. But what's in it for me?"

There was a pause at the other end. "You can come with us. Just imagine 11 hours sitting right next to Olive. And then staying with her at a hotel. In Japan. She'll be so lost over there, she's going to be needing you for company."

Angus wasn't so sure about the latter part. But he was already sold when Chyna had mentioned the 11 hour flight sitting next to Olive. 40,000 feet in the air. There was no way she could escape from his company.

"So how are you going to convince your dad to let you go?" He asked, curious.

"I got that part taken care of," Chyna sounded very smug and self-assured. "See, I told Dad that Gibson's chaperoning."

"Smart plan, but how did you convince Gibson?"

"Told him it was a school trip."

"Smart." Gibson, ever the gullible guidance counselor/tutor/therapist, would've believed anything Chyna said.

"Yep," Chyna said brightly. "So you'll do it?"

"Already done."

"What?"

"Yep, I hacked into the London Tipton website while we were talking. I mean, compared to the Pentagon firewall, this is child's play. _But _I also had to hack into the airlines for an extra ticket. Turns out the website only awards three tickets, and we're four."

"Oh wow, you're fast!"

"Darn right. And Chyna, you're such a liar."

"What do you mean?"

"Olive already has her own ticket, and she's not going to be sitting next to me. _And_ you very conveniently forgot to mention that Skidmore was sharing a flight with us!"

All Angus heard from the other end of the line was a very faint laugh. "Oops, forgot to mention that, goodbye."


	5. It's Been a While!

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 5

It was all hustle and bustle at the San Francisco International airport. Hurried vacationers pushing and elbowing each other to get from point A to point B, all the while lugging insane amount of luggage behind.

To Olive, it felt much like how walking the halls at Webster High used to be, but a lot worse since she had a tyrannical, excited Principal dragging her across the airport.

Skidmore must've been really excited about recruiting this swimmer for the Ant Farm. Olive was knocking and bumping into passengers left and right trying to keep pace with Skidmore, who had a firm grim on her wrist.

"C'mon Olive!" Skidmore admonished from time to time when she felt Olive wasn't keeping up.

"But the – flight - isn't - for another – hour!" Olive managed to say in between every time she bumped into someone or something.

"Well, that's true, but I want to stop by to see the manager really quickly. See if I can't get an upgrade for first class."

"For the both of us?"

"No…just me." Skidmore flicked her air across her shoulder as she sped walk through the airport with Olive in tow. "I'm sure with enough time I can charm the clerk to give me a _complimentary upgrade_."

Olive shuddered at the thought of the principal sweet talking anyone.

After what felt like forever, Olive and Skidmore had made it to the check in lounge. Skidmore's eyes had darted straight to the manager, who looked busy making sure everything was going right on schedule with his employees. Skidmore strode off to talk with the manager, leaving Olive behind with her luggage.

So Olive was left with nothing to do but wait. She was busy going over the periodic table of elements in her head when she spied a very familiar looking face.

She couldn't help but return the smile of Chyna Parks, who was beaming from ear to ear as she too, had spotted Olive.

In no time at all, she felt Chyna hugging her, and she hugged back. The two squealed and jumped up and down.

After the laughter and squealing died down, Olive asked the obvious question. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Chyna laughed, and launched straight into her story. She brought up Olive to speed very quickly: about how at first she had gotten Angus to score tickets for just her, Fletcher, Gibson and Angus himself, and how like a thunderstorm, things had spiraled out of Chyna's control. Like usual.

It wasn't just them now. Very quickly, the rest of the Ant Farm had gotten wind of Chyna's plan. And they all wanted in. Word trickled down and down through the grapevine, and somehow the news reached Cameron himself, who was the Ant rep for three straight years running. He too, wanted in on the trip.

"So Cameron was the last to know?" Olive asked.

"Yep. And you should've seen the look on his face." Chyna mimicked the look on Cameron's face. Olive had to admit that Chyna's impression was impressive: the comically wide eyes and gaping mouth was dead, spot on.

They laughed. Chyna looked at her watch.

"Anytime now," she announced, "we are going to have a horde of Ants marching down the terminal. There's no way that Principal Skidmore and Gibson can meet. Gibson thinks it's a field trip, and if Skidmore tells him otherwise, it's over. Unless, we have a distraction." She looked pointedly at Olive.

Olive grinned slyly. "And this is where Olive Doyle comes in." She folded her arms. "Leave it to me."

As if on cue, Skidmore's shrill voice rang in the air. "Olive!" could be heard as the name pierced through the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Olive and Chyna glanced south towards terminal B and spotted Skidmore's red, curly hair bouncing up and down towards them as she weaved her way through the crowd.

Olive made a face as if she was about to face a hungry lion head on. "Ok, here I go." Without another word, Olive spun on her heels and marched to Principal Skidmore, ready to cut her off.


	6. Please, Anybody but Him!

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 6

There was no mistaking it. Chyna had yet to turn but she could hear her fellow Ants coming from a mile away. Maybe one of them, alone, would've been hard to make out in the loudness of the San Francisco airport. But together? As a collective, the Ants were louder and more boisterous than everybody else. The girls were chatting up a storm and the boys were whooping and hollering. But even above it all, she could hear Gibson shouting, "Wow, so this is the airport! I've never been to one before. I was going to go to one, but Nana wanted to take Bob instead!"

She grinned. This was probably going to be the best field trip the Ants had ever took, and it was all, thanks to her.

She spun around to greet her fellow classmates, and tell them the plan. It was going to take a little subtlety to sneak a whole class into the same flight as their Principal, but it took just one look at one particular Ant to forget about all the other ones.

Fletcher was walking side by side with Angus, Cameron and Gibson, with the horde of Ants following closely by. Fletcher had spotted her right away, and he smiled and waved. No, it wasn't a frantic wave, like _I'm right here, Chyna, do you see me, _but just a small one, as if to say, _hey I see you there_.

It was weird to see him that way. It was almost smooth. Plus he was taller, definitely taller than her now, and he looked more mature in the face. The only thing about Fletcher that seemed familiar to her so far was his smile. He still obviously, really liked her. This time, though, she found herself not so, weirded out by the idea, which weirded her out!

Just remember Chyna, she told herself, this is Fletcher. He's weirder than any boy you've ever met. Plus he's one of your best friends, so liking him back, that's just out of the question!

He was standing in front of her now, still smiling that _I'm in love_ smile he'd always reserve for her. Alarm bells rang in Chyna's head. Please god, anybody but him! She screamed in her head as she returned his smile.

"Hey, Chyna."

"Fletcher, hi!" She made sure not to linger on his face for long and quickly turned to greet Angus, Gibson, even her brother.

"Cameron!" She exclaimed extra loudly for show. She hugged Cameron harder and longer than normal. "Hey, Cameron! Good to see you there!"

Cameron quickly yanked Chyna off of him.

"Chyna, what are you doing? Not here!" He brushed off his shoulders and sleeves as if Chyna had been rolling around in dirt.

Angus ignored the whole scene. He craned his head to scan the crowd. He used Cameron as a prop to get a better look of the airport. "So. Where's Olive?"


	7. Bo0o0oring Flight

Chapter 7

How Angus had succeeded to secure a whole cabin for the Ants was beyond Fletcher. It must've taken lots of hacking and rescheduling of other people's flights, but Angus had done it, and quite easily, according to him. He wondered absentmindedly what Angus was still doing in high school with the rest of the Ants. He was sure that someone of Angus's talent could've done anything but high school, like rule the world, for a start.

He looked at Angus who was not so discreetly staring at Olive, who happened to sit right next to him. Olive looked like she was doing her best to ignore Angus. She did nothing but stare straight ahead, arms folded, like a statue.

Fletcher smiled. He realized that there was just the one reason Angus was still in high school like everybody else.

And then there was Chyna, who was not sitting next to him, but to Olive.

Fletcher himself was sitting in the far end of the row, next to Gibson who kept bugging him to play just one more round of Gibsonnary.

Fletcher sighed. It was probably for the better that he wasn't sitting next to Chyna. He figured, hey, it was an 11 hour flight. That was a long time to sit to someone you really liked, especially when it was still kinda awkward with her.

Back at the airport lounge, they had talked quite easily with each other at first. They quickly caught each other up on each other's summers but it wasn't before long that the other had ran out of things to talk about. The silence got maddeningly awkward. 11 hours of that awkward silence would've been too much.

Plus he couldn't stop thinking about the look Chyna had given him. That first look she gave when she first laid eyes on him as he walked through the terminal. It wasn't a look she had ever given him before, and he should know! Because he was an expert on all things Chyna. There was the trademark ear to ear grin; the cute, OMG the best thing just happened to me grin; that sly grin when she had thought of something clever; the half grin she uses when she humors someone; the uh-oh, I'm in trouble grin; the smitten, oh that guy is cute grin, etc.

The smile she had given him though, was a new one. He didn't know how to act on it, or if he _should_. Maybe he was just imagining things. He looked towards Chyna, who was now chattering up a storm with Chyna about _girl things_.

It was to his amazement that the duo kept the conversation up the whole 11 hour flight. Only girls, he muttered in his head. Only girls can talk that long non-stop without tiring or running out of things to talk about.


	8. Sorry Skidmore

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 8

Getting off the plane wasn't a problem at all. Skidmore had gotten out first, yes, and then she had to wait for Olive, who was sitting back in middle class with everybody else. Still not a problem.

Olive had made sure that she was the first out of that cabin, and when Skidmore laid her eyes on Olive, she ushered Olive alongside her quickly. "Shoo shoo," Skidmore kept saying. "Giddy-yap." They made record time as the two zig-zagged out and about the crowd before the rest of the Ants had set foot off the off ramp. So that part went well also.

The problem was when everybody was waiting for their bags.

Thankfully, Olive's keen memory diverted the problem. She noticed that Gibson's bag and Skidmore's bag were right next to each other, moving along the conveyor belt, from a mile away. Chyna had mouthed to her "Are you sure?" but she didn't have to. Olive remembered exactly how Gibson's bag and Skidmore's bag looked like.

Olive and Chyna moved out without saying another word to each other. Chyna to head off Gibson and Olive to head off Skidmore. Olive envied Chyna. Gibson was definitely the easier assignment.

She managed to cut off Skidmore, which wasn't easy. Skidmore was like a streaking missile as she made off for her luggage.

Skidmore looked at her with supreme annoyance. "What, is it?" She bit out.

Olive panicked, and thought of the first thing that popped into her head. "I think I left something on the plane."

Skidmore didn't look concerned at the least. "So?"

"No, you don't understand. It's my allergy medication. I'm allergic to seafood," Olive lied.

Olive could see Skidmore doing the math in her head. A minor with an allergy to what was probably the most common cuisine in Japan, without her allergy medication, was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

A look of fire burned in Skidmore's eyes, and suddenly the objective was changed from the luggage to the medication.

"Well," Skidmore smiled tightly, "we can't have that." And off they went back to the plane, which was the start of what Olive couldn't have predicted to become the biggest commotion that the Narita International Airport had seen in quite some time.

The employees refused outright to let Skidmore back on the plane. It had started off ok enough but things escalated quickly.

"Listen, ma'am," one employee said in perfect English, "I'm sorry but once the next group of passengers have boarded for the next flight, we can't stop the flight for any reason except suspected terrorist activity."

Skidmore laughed a harsh, bitter laugh. "Well, first of all, mister, you need to work on your English-"

The eyes in the employee's otherwise polite stare flashed a little.

Very quickly, Olive could see the situation go from good to worst really fast. She tried to head it off. She only wanted to distract Skidmore long enough for Gibson to get her luggage anyway. "You know what, Principal Skidmore, I'm sure we can find a local pharmacy-"

Skidmore made a snapping gesture with one hand, signaling to shut up, which silenced Olive immediately. She stared meekly at a spot on the floor, hoping for the worst to be over _fast_.

"Terrorist schmerrorist. I don't really care what your rules are, but as far as my _daughter_ here is _concerned_, all the rules go out the window. We need her medication and we need it stat."

An onlooker couldn't help but put his two cents in. "Madame, you're talking about derailing a multi-million dollar operation for medicine. Like your daughter explicitly has said, Japan has plenty of medication to provide. My daughter herself has allergies. You can get Benadryl over the counter anywhere."

"Well, my daughter's allergies are _special_," Skidmore lied. She was beyond reasoning with now. It was a matter of principle that she get inside the plane. Nobody says no to Principal Skidmore! "I thought you Japanese people liked to mind your own business. But you're just like Americans. How about you take your personal business," she dug her finger deep into the onlooker's chest, "and move along and take it somewhere else." She smiled a self satisfied, sweet smile at the onlooker's disapproving frown.

Olive imagined that Skidmore must've thought herself pretty intimidating. She was twice the size of the man she stared down in the face.

Olive hadn't noticed the onlooker motioning to the security guards, and in ten minutes, everything was chaos.

Crowds and crowds of people gathered by the minute as they all looked on at the spectacle of a 5"2 old lady single handedly keeping a whole squad of security guards at bay, the whole time ranting things like "Get your hands off of me. I'll have you know that this is not how they treat people in the United States. Over there, the passengers are treated with dignity. Dignity, I tell you, dignity!"

Olive felt red in the face and just wanted to leave the scene. It was then that the original onlooker seemed to have remembered Olive. He turned to her and said, "Your mother will be detained for a little while. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but you'll have to wait until she's finished in the holding area."

"She's not my mother," Olive blurted, and she didn't know why. At the curious look on the man's face, she continued, "She's my principal. We came here, sorta on a school trip. I'm with other students and you know what, I think they're actually waiting for me."

The man thought this explanation much more likely than the mother-daughter relationship.

"I knew a young lady as nice and polite as you couldn't have been related to one of the rudest people I've ever met in my life."

Olive smiled. "So how long are you keeping Principal Skidmore?"

"A little while. We have reason to believe she's connected with suspicious terrorist like activity in the area," he chuckled as if telling himself his own private joke.

"She's definitely not a terrorist-" she began to defend her principal.

"I know. I just feel like giving her a hard time."

Olive shrugged. "Ok sir," she said, not having a problem with that at all. "So if you don't mind?"

The man nodded. "Yes. Go be with your friends."

Olive ran off to find the rest of the Ants, who by now had finished gathering all of their things together.

Chyna and Fletcher looked so relieved to see Olive.

"There you are! So where you been?" They asked simultaneously.

"Oh nothing much. I headed off Skidmore, she asked me why, I made up a story, but then I practically got her arrested…"

"Wait, what?"

"Ok, let me start at the beginning."

She told her friends the story on the way to the hotel. By the time she had finished, the Ants had rolled through the parking entrance in front of the main hotel lobby in a long line of cabs. By the end of the story, Fletcher laughed while Chyna smirked, "I wish I could've seen the look on her face."


	9. Touchdown!

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 9

Until now, Chyna Parks had only been to two Tipton hotels. One in San Francisco and the other one in Boston. But nothing could've prepared her for the one in Tokyo.

First of all, the whole place smelled of Japanese incense. It wasn't unpleasant, and it smelled faintly of kiwi. The lobby floor was large, but dimly lit. It was still the middle of the day, Chyna knew, but from where she was standing she couldn't have known. There was no lighting from the outside, but the soft lighting by the walls gave the lobby a relaxing feel.

The lobby was full of people, but it wasn't loud. The background felt hushed, almost like a library floor where frequenters were always told to keep quiet.

When she and the rest of the Ant Farm came rolling through the front door, they must've been loud, because everybody in the lobby had immediately stopped what they were doing to stare. That many eyes staring was un-nerving; it instantly shut the crew up – for now, anyway.

Chyna almost felt guilty about taking her first step on the lobby floor. The floor was so pristine, it sparkled. She didn't want to dirty anything that looked that new. As everybody strolled their way to the front desk – very quietly- she spotted random things that she'd hardly seen back in the US – tatami mats, haiku tea tables, Shoji room dividers, Japanese ferns.

Chyna heard Olive give a disapproving tut-tut as she looked around the lobby. "This is all wrong. What a horribly inaccurate presentation of Feng Shui! First of all, that table should be placed over in the far side of the lobby. The fern plants should be placed over _here_, like so, and what in the world are the tatami mats doing over there, and who's idea was it to place a portrait over there – "

"I like it," Chyna cut in. She looked over at Olive. "I think we're going to have a blast here."

Angus agreed. "Yea, I think I had a pie eating competition here once. It was fun!"

"You've been to Japan before?" Fletcher asked.

Angus looked at Fletcher as if that was a really dumb question. "Noo. I mean we did it online, on video."

Everybody gave Angus that _are you kidding me_ stare.

"Oh gimme a break!" Angus rolled his eyes. "State of the art, fiber optic connections make anything real time anyway. I might as well have _been there_. Remember my dance competition in the Philippines?"

Fletcher just had to tease. "Oh right. I remember! You still keep that second place trophy anywhere?"

Angus just glared at Fletcher, who just responded with a sheepish shrug.

The Ants made it to the front desk, with Gibson "taking care" of the receptionist. But that didn't go so well.

"But are you sure my room can't fit that many people?" Gibson asked, gesturing to the thirty Ants waiting for their room.

"Yes, I am sure," the desk clerk explained tiredly. This was about the third time she had to go over this. The conversation was quickly going around in circles.

Chyna, Fletcher, and Angus were listening in on the conversation.

"Oh no, we were so busy thinking about how to get everybody on the flight to Tokyo that we didn't think about booking enough rooms for thirty people!" Chyna said, worried.

Fletcher had nothing to say, but Angus just smirked as if this wasn't a problem at all.

"Not a big deal," was all he said, as he quickly took out his Ant Pad, and typed in a series of keys. After a minute, he declared, "All done. I think the desk clerk will see that we have been put up for a complimentary upgrade," he said smugly.

"You can hack into the hotel computers with your Ant Pad?" Fletcher asked.

"Well, of course! I hack into anything with my Ant Pad, even though it's easier doing it from my desktop. Why do you think I carry it everywhere?"

"I dunno," Chyna remarked, "maybe to listen to music.."

"Or play games," Fletcher added.

"Or watch movies," Chyna finished.

Angus just looked at his friends like they were really weird.

The receptionist made an unexpected _eep_ with her mouth as her computer chimed.

"Oh wait a minute, here," she told Gibson. "It says here that you have been upgraded from the Royal Suite to the London Suite."

"Oh!" Gibson exclaimed, but then he said, "Wait. Is that a good thing?"

The receptionist gave Gibson a pleasant smile. "Yes, that's a very good thing."

Chyna had to speak up. "But that's, just one room? We have thirty people."

The receptionist deadpanned. "Clearly, you haven't heard about the London Suite." But then the receptionist brightened again, "You're just in luck too. Usually that room is reserved for Miss Tipton herself exclusively, but she happens to be out on business for a few days."

Chyna's heart dropped a few beats. If London's out of town, that means her boyfriend is also out of town, which means…

She looked to her fellow Ants, who all looked so excited now that they were indeed booked rooms. She realized that she didn't need to be a downer. Maybe she can still have fun. She can still make the best of things.

"_Anyway_," Chyna said, to her friends. "I think I'm going to go explore now. The hotel is really big and I think there's still enough time today to go see a few things."

Angus looked dead set against the idea. "I dunno, I kinda just wanna go up to the Suite and unpack."

Chyna shrugged as if to say suit yourself, but then Fletcher volunteered, "I'll go with you."

Chyna's eyes lit up when she smiled. "There you go, Fletcher! That's the spirit!"

The two smiled at each other, then simultaneously looked to Angus and asked, "So Angus, since you're already going up, can you take our luggage up with you?"

They were already up and running before Angus could protest. Suddenly, he was left with 4 extra really big luggage to lug along. "Hey…!" He squealed indignantly. But they didn't hear him.


	10. Poolside, Kinda

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 10

This was more than Fletcher could've imagined. Him. Chyna. Just the two of them. Running together. Laughing. She was looking straight into his eyes as they ran and she had that trademark ear to ear grin that made his heart melt.

They explored everywhere. They saw the dining room, the dance floor, the garden outside, the shopping center that was situated on the bottom level of the hotel floor. He had to admit that the hotel was huge. Bigger than any hotel he'd been to so far.

Well, that wasn't saying much. He had only been to one hotel so far. For the reception of one of the Quimbys' weddings, up in Sacramento. Ah, weddings…

He looked over to Chyna who was smiling at him and he heard wedding bells in his head. Boy, was he a sucker for her.

They finally stopped to take a breather outside, by the recreational pool.

"This place is huge!" Chyna exclaimed.

Fletcher nodded, gasping hard from the exercise. He had to agree.

They were about to keep going when he caught sight of someone climbing out the pool. An ominous "oh no" fell out of his mouth.

Chyna concerned, followed his line of sight. Then she too, had to say, "oh no."

There she was. Lexi Reed in the flesh. Right next to her, not unexpectedly was her best friend, Paisley, and then a third girl who appeared to be a part of their group - a young, Asian looking girl who looked about the Ants' age - who he thought looked pretty good. But she wasn't Chyna…

The Asian girl seemed to have felt someone staring. She turned her head in the direction of him and Chyna. She definitely caught him staring a little. He automatically braced for a Lexi - like response. Maybe a scoff, a hmph, and then a snobbish flick of her head. But the girl surprised him with a smile and wave.

He was taken back a little. He looked to Chyna and he couldn't read the look on her face.

He barely had time to make sense of it when Chyna grabbed him by the shoulders and told him to duck. They ducked behind the pool gates, and suddenly that pretty Asian girl was out of his line of sight.

"Lexi turned to see who that girl was waving at," Chyna explained.

"Oh," Fletcher responded dumbly.

"This makes things complicated," Chyna muttered to herself, but she was loud enough for Fletcher to hear.

Fletcher agreed. But it took the better part of the long walk back to the lobby, and then up through three sets of spiral, grand looking staircases the width of the Webster High hallways for Fletcher to realize that Chyna was talking about Lexi, and not the Asian girl.

He was thinking of Chyna, and then the Asian girl, and then Chyna again, the whole time.


	11. Spoiled Much?

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 11

Olive had to gape at how enormous the London Suite was. It was definitely more than large enough for thirty people. It took up the whole west side of the hotel and was the size of a mansion!

The Ants deposited their luggage in the sitting area by the front door and in a clamor, pushed and shoved each other in their excitement to explore the area.

The sitting area had no walls; it was a wide open space that she felt could've fit at least four basketball gyms side to side to side to side, adorned with very comfortable looking furniture that she just wanted to sink into after an 11 hour flight.

The sitting area was boxed in by four decks that encompassed the perimeter of the sitting area. There was a spiral staircase in the middle that lead to the upper decks. It looked impressive, and she felt it could've rivaled the staircase in the main lobby.

There were no doors to rooms on the sitting area floor. Olive figured that they were all upstairs.

The most amazing sight was the west side facing wall. It wasn't really a wall. It was basically one huge window that stretched the width and height of the Suite. Olive could spot the sun, still sitting high in the horizon and wasn't going to set for a few hours, and an Olympic size swimming pool and people below.

All this was a room for one person? Olive marveled. And she thought Lexi Reed was spoiled!

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when she heard a terrified squeak and then a sharp yelp: "What on earth is going on here? Who are you people?"

Olive groaned. It turned out that the Suite wasn't so un-occupied after all.

She rushed to where the commotion was and was met with the sight of a pretty blonde in a bikini, in her twenties, a tall dashing guy who was probably the same age, staring down at a flabbergasted Angus who was too shell shocked to say anything. The other Ants stayed way clear in the background so Angus was receiving the brunt of the blonde's sharp glare.

Angus's mouth flapped uselessly like a fish out of water, while the blonde and who Olive assumed to be her boyfriend looked like they were losing their patience.

Olive had the sneaky feeling that it was the blonde who was having this effect on him. She laughed to herself. Angus really had a thing for blondes, did he?

The blonde caught on, smiled to herself, and proceeded to wrap herself in a nearby towel, which was just sitting there in the chair. Already, Angus looked visibly more composed.

"Ok, let's try this again. Who are you people and what are you doing in the London Suite?" This time the blonde spoke with less sharpness. Olive assumed that she was beginning to get amused by the whole thing.

"I, uhh, I mean, we're Ants, but we're not the crawling kind, I fix computers, I mean I hack computers, no that doesn't sound right…"

Olive had to step in. "Hi, I'm Olive. And this is Angus," she gestured to Angus, who looked devoid of any competent intelligence. "We're American teenagers who are all part of this program called the Ant Farm. We're Ants, and that means Advanced Natural Talents, and we're all pretty much here together on a field trip."

The blonde looked impressed. "Oh, a freshman field trip then? Or are you 8th graders?" Olive noticed the blonde spoke English perfectly. She must've been American too.

"No," Olive laughed nervously. "We're juniors in high school. We skipped a few grades."

"Oh. But that still doesn't explain what you all are doing in the London Suite."

"Err," Olive groaned. She was going to have to come clean. "Ok, I guess I have to start at the beginning then."

It took the better part of twenty minutes to explain. Angus and Olive sat with the blonde and her boyfriend in the middle of the sitting area, while the rest of the Ants grew comfortable enough after a while to go about the Suite.

Over time, the blonde grew less and less stern and by the end, looked visibly giddy, curious even.

"Oh, Angus!" The blonde turned to Angus, who looked surprised to be addressed. "You work with computers? I'm good with computers!"

The last bits of nervousness seemed to slip away from Angus. Now he looked like he was back in his own element again.

"What do you know about javascript encoding?" Angus put on a thickness to his voice that to Olive, seemed ridiculously unnatural.

The blonde smiled, very much amused and was about to reply when Olive politely cut in. "I'm sorry, but we never got your name."

"Oh that's right! Silly me." The blonde leaned over to shake Olive's hand. "I'm Maddie. Maddie Fitzpatrick. And this here is Jacques." She put a hand on Jacques's shoulders, who simply nodded at the Ants.

"Right. So you're a friend of London Tipton?"

The blonde's eyes lit up in confirmation. "Sure. Good friends. We go way back from the days I was a candy girl at the Boston Tipton hotel."

Angus piped in. "So you sell candy? That's my kinda girl!"

Maddie laughed. She really was warming up to them. "I used to be a candy girl. But not anymore. I'm a diplomatic liaison. I work with both the US and Japan on issues that need working out. I'm sorta the middleman, if you can call it that." Maddie's words seemed to downplay her job, but it was obvious to Olive how much pride Maddie took in her work.

"Right now I'm working with both the US and Japan on international security. We're currently focusing on airport security right now." She looked mischievously at Angus. "As it seems, airport security is not so secure right now since a 12 year old can hack it."

Angus looked offended. "I'm 15! And I'm not just any hacker. I'm the best!"

"Yes, you are," Maddie agreed.

Olive got worried. "Wait, so if you're working for airport security, does that mean you're gunna turn us in?"

Maddie laughed. "No! Why would I do that? You kids look like you need your fun. So young and in high school. God, high school was overwhelming when I was a student! And I was the right age!"

Both Olive and Angus were relaxed completely. "Oh ok then."

Olive asked, "So does that mean we can stay?"

Maddie looked at her as if to say _duh_. "This Suite is huge and it's more than enough room for all of us. We'll just take the two rooms for us and you guys can work out the other 40 rooms for yourselves."

"This suite has 40 rooms?" Angus was awestruck.

"Yea but fifteen of those rooms don't have beds. They're closets for London's clothes but I'm sure we can get a few beds in here."

Olive was no longer surprised by how spoiled this London person was. She said, "That sounds great! Thanks!"

Olive and Angus made off to leave, so they can get their luggage and pick their rooms, but Maddie had one last thing to say.

"You know, it's really a great thing what Webster High is doing for you kids. Young, talented kids need a place where they can feel like they can express themselves completely. I should know. I'm talented myself. I can sing."

Olive said, "Oh, my friend Chyna can sing! Can you sing a few notes for us?"

Maddie shrugged as if to say, _sure, why not,_ although Olive expected that Maddie had been ready to show off her singing for some time now.

She sang a few notes to _We're All in This Together_, to which Olive couldn't help but applaud.

"You're awesome! If you weren't so old, I bet you could've been an Ant, just like the rest of us!"

Maddie gasped, and her mouth gaped into this long, oval O. Jacques was already springing into action. He ushered Maddie quickly up the flight of stairs before Olive could register that she had offended Maddie.

"No baby, I'm sure Olive didn't mean to say you were _old_, just getting _older_."

"Oh, so now I'm getting older!" A pause. "Oh baby you're right! I'm already in my early twenties, where has my life gone?"

Olive cringed as she heard bawls of tears filling the Suite.


	12. Chyna to the Rescue!

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 12

Chyna Parks was alone, walking out and about the hotel by herself now. Fletcher had gone a while ago to go meet up with the rest of the Ants. She was glad because she needed the time alone to mull over the situation. She needed to do something about Lexi and fast. Once Lexi catches on to their little scheme, she would tell on them, and then Gibson would be forced to send everybody home because they were never supposed to be in Japan to begin with.

She was still mulling over her options when she heard a commotion from a crowd. She looked over to find a large doorway, standing 10 feet, leading to an ornate, cavernous room with rows and rows of pews and three long aisles running down the middle and the sides.

People dressed up in fancy suits and dresses were chattering restlessly.

Chyna was looking at a wedding, but it didn't look like a happy wedding. The bride was bawling to herself and anyone nearby that would listen.

"I can't believe the pianist didn't show up! This is supposed to be the best day of my life! I can't march down the aisle without music! I will not have a half rate wedding. Right baby?" She turned to face someone, but no one was there.

"Baby!" The bride yelled again.

A man who was chattering along in speedy Japanese with guests jumped at the sharpness of her bride's voice. "Yes, dear, coming dear," he called out. At once, he about - faced and marched over to his bride.

"I said, right baby?" Tears streaked down large eyes as the wife looked on to her groom for an answer.

"Right? Right. Of course, you're right. Wait, what are you right about?"

"I do not deserve a half rate wedding! We need music, stat! A pianist, any pianist will do. I will not march down the aisle without Mendelsohn's Wedding March in the air!"

"Right, but see baby, we've tried calling all the local musicians and they're all booked right now. So we're either going to have to err, proceed without music, or…..postpone?"

"POSTPONE?"

The man shrank underneath the sheer volume of his bride's voice. "Right," he said. "That's not an option."

Chyna called out, "Maybe I can help."

The groom, bride and guests turned to their would be savior, and Chyna could see the dashed and crestfallen looks on their faces. She could see what they saw, a fourteen year old who couldn't mind her own business.

The guests muttered angrily in Japanese at her, while the groom spoke in plain English: "No offense kid, but I'd really appreciate it if you would just leave us alone – "

Chyna wouldn't take no for an answer. "No, wait, really, I can play the piano! Just wait, you'll see!" She was already speeding down the aisle towards the massive Grand piano in the corner. She barely registered the shouting protests of the guests – she had her sights on the piano bench – but then she felt strong arms hook around her armpits – she couldn't feel her feet on the floor anymore –

"Wait! Just let me show you! Please. If I can just get on the piano, you'll see you guys can have your wedding!"

Chyna continued to struggle. She felt the angry chatter of the guests buzz in her ears, until a voice, higher in timbre to everything else, cut in through the room, speaking Japanese.

Chyna looked over in the direction of the speaker, and she recognized her. She was the Asian girl Fletcher had spotted at the pool.

The groom rushed up to Chyna, speaking hurriedly, "My niece Janice here says she knows you, and she vouches for you. So if you can play, show us now," he looked to his wife and then leaned to whisper in Chyna's ear, "I just want this part of my day over with."

Chyna smiled. "You got it, sir."

Chyna made her way over to the piano, without getting harassed this time, and sat on the bench.

Now this, she could do. And very easily too. She felt very much at home on the bench, and her fingers were poised to dance across the 88 keys the moment they laid rest on the piano.

She played a sample of Mendelsohn's Wedding March, with a bit of an upbeat twist to it.

The muttering and protests died away. Before long, the angry faces in the crowd were replaced by nodding looks of approval.

She stopped playing a quarter of the way through. Really, she didn't need to play the whole song. Had to save it for the real deal.

The bride strode purposely down the aisle towards Chyna. Chyna winced as she heard the strong click-clack with every time the woman's high heels met the floor.

Chyna braced herself. The woman didn't look happy.

But she had nothing to worry about when the woman's stern face melted into a huge, radiant smile. "You're perfect!"

The woman turned to face the wedding guests. "She's going to be the new pianist!"

"But," she turned back to Chyna, "you have to play your re-endition of the Wedding March. It's so, lively!" She gushed.

Before Chyna could say anything else, the bride was already making orders to find a suitable dress for Chyna. There was no way the wedding pianist was going to play in jeans and boots. The crowd clamored into action. And soon the wedding hall was busy, with everybody taking places and people calling out instruction to each other.

The wedding itself was a quieter affair. Chyna played the Wedding March perfectly. Pleasant smiles in the crowd looked on silently as the pastor married the couple.

The bride, who was no longer screeching and bawling indignantly, looked every bit comfortable as the center of attention. Chyna studied the bride. Without her face twisted in tears, she decided the bride looked really pretty. She waved to everybody as she raced down the aisle, with her newly minted husband in arm. The crowd showered them in petals and cheers of joy.

Chyna looked on with a satisfied smile. She felt good that she was able to help out.

She was still smiling when Janice approached her.

"I'm impressed, you saved the day. I imagine if Toriyama-san hadn't found a pianist, she would've had an earful from Alice for weeks."

Chyna nodded as she turned on her seat to face Janice. Janice was dressed up in a sapphire, flowing dress, with long, dangling earrings and her hair done up in a pretty bun.

Chyna frowned. She really was beautiful. Fletcher would take a liking to her.

"The name's Janice."

"I heard," Chyna smiled again. "The name's Chyna."

They shook hands.

"That was you earlier, with that boy by the pool." That was not a question.

"Sure, yea," Chyna admitted, and suddenly she felt a little guarded at Janice's interest in Fletcher.

But then Janice switched up gears. "You're really talented. I guess you really have an ear for music, huh?"

Chyna nodded. Janice had no idea how talented in music she really was.

"Well there's going to be a big wedding reception in a few days. Toriyama-san didn't have the time, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I extend you the invitation."

Chyna loved parties. But she was sure that the invitation was going to come with a catch.

"You have to bring your friend –," Janice paused.

"Fletcher, his name's Fletcher."

"Fletcher. That's an unusual name."

Chyna wanted to laugh, but there was something about Janice that put her a little on edge.

"Yea. I, erm, agree." Chyna cleared her throat.

"So…do we have a deal then? Your friend's invited. In fact, bring all of your friends. The more the merrier."

This time Chyna had to laugh. "I dunno, I have lots of friends with me on this trip."

Janice scoffed. "It doesn't matter how many friends you have. 100 people can crash the party and nobody would notice." Janice noticed Chyna's raised eyebrows. "Yep, it's that big."

Chyna wasn't so sure about attending anymore. Janice seemed like the type who gets what she wants, and would stop at nothing to get it. And right now, she really wanted to meet Fletcher. For some reason, that didn't sit so well with Chyna.

"See, Toriyama-san's a big time record producer -," Janice did not miss Chyna's piqued interest in the conversation. "I can arrange an audience with him, if you want."

Chyna was amazed by how much Janice saw through her. Was it that obvious that she craved to play music in front of people?

"So I'll see you there. You know what you have to do." Janice flashed her victory smile, flicked her hair, and left the wedding hall.


	13. Chalk It Up!

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 13

Fletcher was having an awesome time so far in Tokyo. He was at the Mega Arcade (The Mega Arcade!) with Angus and Tyler, and between the three of them they had spent hours laying to waste anybody who dared to challenge them in any video game. Whether it was free person shooters, sports games, puzzle games, even Pacman, no one had even come close to sniffing a victory against them. Even the regular customers – Japanese, grungy looking kids with long, dyed hair and unkempt clothes - lost to them, even after rematch after rematch after rematch.

Needless to say, they had made a killing in quarters and tokens.

It wouldn't be long until they reached the necessary 35 billion tokens needed to win the grand prize – whatever it was – and it really was thanks to Tyler. He wasn't lying about being the world's best video gamer!

Over time, Fletcher noticed that the Mega Arcade had gotten quieter and quieter. He looked at the time. He noticed that it was still pretty early. So why was it suddenly near empty?

Angus answered his unspoken question. "It's us. We sucked the fun out of this place. We've got the top record on every single machine and nobody has any hope of ever reaching it."

Fletcher let out a small "oh," then shrugged.

"Yep," Tyler agreed. The boy was taller than both Angus and Fletcher so they had to look up when he spoke, "I guess we should pretty much bounce. Nothing else to do here."

Nothing much for Tyler to do anyway.

But Fletcher wanted to stay. His pride wouldn't let him acknowledge the fact that there wasn't a single record of Tyler's that he could break, or at least tie. He stayed long after Angus and Tyler left. After futile effort and futile effort, not a single record of Tyler's was touched.

Fletcher realized that he had run out of money, and it was time to leave. He really should just stick to art.

He made the short walk back to the hotel. Once there, he spied immediately that Asian girl again. She was with a bunch of friends, all in designer clothes, and armed to their shoulders with shopping bags.

Ah, he should've figured the girl was rich.

Again, it was like the girl had a radar in the back of her head! She snapped her head to him, and this time he wasn't so surprised that she smiled. A little confused, maybe. What would a girl like that be interested in him for?

Over the summer, he had sensed increasing attention from girls wherever he went. Sometimes they would look at him and then look away, the bolder ones would say hi and the ones with no fear at all would introduce themselves. But a girl like that Asian girl looked way too out of his league. Why would she be interested in him?

He felt a small flicker of confidence stir inside him. Maybe, he should find out. The girl had already spotted him twice, and didn't turn away. She probably wouldn't turn away if he'd go over to say hi, would she?

Her eyes were still on him as he made to walk over. His confidence got higher and higher as he got closer. So what if he didn't manage to say anything witty or charming or smooth when he opened his mouth to chat it up with all the random girls he'd met this summer? This time, he was sure it'd be different. He was going to be Mister Suave and that girl will be swooning head over heels for him.

But then he was yanked rudely in the opposite direction. If the girl he wanted to talk to was South, then Fletcher was forced to make a hard, hard right, going West. Someone was leading him away from the girl, and had a vice grip on his wrist.

"H-hey!" He sputtered helplessly.

After some distance was made, the yank-er stopped. Fletcher was about to give the person a good piece of his mind until he saw who it was.

Suddenly he forgot all about that Asian girl. There was only Chyna.

"Oh hey, Chyna! Uhm, what was that just about?"

Chyna flashed him the widest smile he had seen in the longest time. "Oh, what? Oh, that! It's nothing, I just really wanted to show you something."

Fletcher perked up. "Really? What do you want to show me?"

There was a pause. Then Chyna laughed, a sputtering, halting laugh. "Oh, what do I want to show you? …I can't tell you, it's a surprise!" Her shoulders bobbed up and down as she laughed.

She led him to an intersection of two main hallways in the hotel, and stopped. She looked both ways, and after a moment, she shrugged and went left. He followed, but it all felt a little weird. It was as if she picked the direction at random.

She led him up a flight of stairs that he wouldn't have seen if she hadn't picked it. They went up and around the corner, which led to an arched passageway. He followed her through the arched passageway and gasped. They had been to the hotel garden before, but this was a part of the garden that he hadn't seen yet.

They were on top of a hill that oversaw the whole garden. The passageway behind them was several feet deep front to back, so it formed a nice cover over the two of them. He could see small, makeshift rivers; people traveling on them in canoes; hedges of flowers and plants that formed complicated, pretty mazes; then there was the afternoon sun. It was setting now, and it made orange and pink colors as it mixed with the rest of the sky.

"This is cool," was all he could say.

Chyna laughed. This laugh was different from that sputtering, halting laugh from earlier. It was deep, rich, from the belly. "T-that's, all you can say? I think this is really _beautiful_."

Fletcher shrugged. Yea, that was something a girl would say.

Down the hill, he spied three girls skipping and hollering on the concrete. He saw chalk marks on the floor. They were playing hopscotch. Suddenly, he was met with inspiration.

He raced down the hilltop, barely hearing Chyna yelling, "Fletcher! Hey, what you up to?" Halfway down, he turned and motioned for her to keep up, and then he turned back around to reach the bottom of the floor.

The young girls didn't notice him approaching them until he was standing right there where they were playing. They spoke to him in rapid Japanese, none of which made any sense at all to him. He wished Olive was here to translate.

"Listen," he implored to them. He looked to them, and the sunset, and back to the kids again. He didn't have a lot of time. "I need your chalk. All of it." He motioned to the dozens of chalk they had on the concrete next to them.

Again, they chattered at him in rapid Japanese. He was fairly sure they weren't saying, "Oh sure mister. You can have all of it, by all means." They definitely wanted him to leave them alone.

Fletcher noticed the sun resting lower and lower in the sky. "Please?" He begged, growing red with the increasing desperation for the chalk. But they kept hurling at him words that he was sure meant, "Go away!"

After enough begging, he decided that it was now or never. He scooped up the chalk in his arms, ignored the crying, and dashed in the opposite direction, all the way past Chyna. Chyna gasped, "Fletcher. Did you just steal those chalk?"

"No, I'm just borrowing it!" He answered without pausing to stop. He just kept running and running.

Fletcher didn't stop until he reached a concrete walkway similar to where he had "borrowed" the chalk. The walkway was secluded, it curbed around a nice, large chunk of rock that thankfully blocked out the direct heat of the sun on the right. But he still had a good view of the sunset straight North, and the still water of the makeshift river on his left. The passageway hugged the curb of the river.

He heard the footsteps of whom could only belong to Chyna get louder. He started panicking a little bit because he didn't know where would be a nice place to start.

But when Chyna demanded - "Fletcher what's goin on? Why'd you steal the chalk and run off like a fool?" – he made up his mind.

"Chyna, sit," was all he answered.

"Wait. What?"

"Just sit. I'm about to paint a picture of you with the sunset in the backdrop."

Silence was all he got from Chyna. He didn't know what to make of it.

"This will only take 15 minutes. Try to smile, and please don't fidget. I want it juuuust right."

A quiet "ok" was his answer.

Fletcher went to work, fast and furiously. Before long, he finished his handiwork. He got up and took a step back to admire it from another angle. He was proud of his work.

He could feel the blood rushing in his head now. He couldn't predict what Chyna would make of his.

"Ok," he called out finally. "You can take a look now."

Chyna got up from her "seat" and stepped around him to look at the work from his point of view.

Fletcher looked up at Chyna. He wanted to see her reaction. He could've sworn he heard hallelujah choirs singing in the distance. The look on her face, was the exact reaction he wanted. A smile that was all teeth, sparkling, white teeth, beaming down on him.

Now that was what he called beautiful, he thought.


	14. An Honest Answer

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 14

The next day started out with a rough morning for Olive. Principal Skidmore had arrived from airport interrogation the night before, cross as ever. Back at the hotel room, instead of sleeping, Skidmore had spent all night ranting and raving about inconsiderate airport security. Olive didn't get a moment's sleep, and unluckily, Skidmore's indignity about the whole incident spilled over to the next morning.

The whole morning still, she had to put up with Skidmore's complaints about airport security. Olive tried her best to tune her Principal out. The lady was just going in circles now, repeating the same things over and over again.

She thought about the rest of her Ants. She envied them right now. They probably had a blast, partying all night. She was sure that the London Suite, situated in the secluded West Wing of the hotel, was virtually soundproof from the outside. They could've spent all night partying and _bother nobody_.

She imagined Chyna and Fletcher, dancing on top of the center tabletop, belting out tunes to their favorite pop songs. She imagined Gibson chasing after any Ant nearby and begging them to play some mahjong with him.

She sighed. Instead she was up all night listening to her principal's voice, and now her whole morning was locked up because today is when they must meet with the diplomat and his star swimmer of a son.

She waited with Skidmore in some outdoorsy café where one part of it was connected to the hotel and the other part was wide open and spilled out to the beach. She felt the breeze of the Pacific ocean. It was still somewhat hot for her taste but the breeze made the air bearable.

"So why am I here again?" She asked Skidmore. "You're not just meeting with the swimmer, you're meeting with a diplomat. I'm sure the father speaks English and you wouldn't need me to translate."

Skidmore scoffed. "You didn't think I'd thought of that? No, you're here for more than mere translation. The diplomat is skeptical of sending his son all the way to another country to join a group of kids he may not be able to get along with. I'm sure you, with all your _perkiness_," Skidmore mocked, "and _rah rah_ spirit can convince father and son otherwise."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to befriend the boy."

"More than that, if it comes to it."

Olive stood up and squealed. "WHAT?"

"Oh relax. All I'm saying is that you charm the boy a little bit. An American girl like you, beautiful, and speaks perfect Japanese – I'm sure there's not a single boy over here that wouldn't be falling head over heels for you."

"Oh you're devious."

Skidmore wasn't at all offended. She flicked her head. "I know!" She exclaimed.

Skidmore's self – adoration was interrupted by a not so discreet _ahem_.

Olive looked up, and the world spun on her head.

She looked to Skidmore, who was no longer smiling in self - bathing smugness about her evil cunning. Instead, Skidmore had an ugly look on her face, and her nostrils flared.

If evil principal ladies could breathe fire…

"You," Skidmore churned the words out.

It was the same man who had Skidmore held in an interrogation center at the airport.

"Yes, me," the Japanese diplomat answered in the affirmative. His face gave away nothing. It was like stone when he met Skidmore's glare head on, but Olive could've sworn when he turned to face Olive that he sent her a wink, just between the two of them.

And then there was the..

"And here's my _daughter_, Janice. She is the swimmer that you desperately wanted to meet," he spoke to Skidmore.

"So you're Goro Takahashi?" Skidmore asked, and then she looked to the Janice skeptically, "And you're supposed to be the world class athlete the likes of nobody has never been seen this side of the Pacific?"

Janice smirked. "All that and then some."

"Wait, hold the phones. _She_ was supposed to be a _he_. And I was told he didn't speak a _lick_ of English."

"We wanted to keep my daughter shielded from the public limelight, until we thought she was ready."

The confident look on Janice's face told Olive that she was definitely ready.

Skidmore chewed on Takahashi's words carefully. "That makes sense," she said thoughtfully.

"After some careful research, and prodding from plenty of politicians, all signs pointed to _you_," Takahashi said to Skidmore. "I was fairly confident that you were the one that I could entrust to take my daughter under her wing. Everybody I talked to sounded very confident about you. I received nothing but glowing reports and recommendations. But then there was the airport incident."

Takahashi let the last words hang in the air a bit.

Olive could sense a shift in Skidmore. Gone was the outright anger and the fire breathing dragon act she had going on. Skidmore stood up and looked completely unrecognizable in her personality.

"Oh, that!" She laughed it off, as if what happened back at the airport was nothing more than mere spilled milk. "That was nothing! I admit I might've gone overboard yesterday just a teensy, little bit, but that was because I was _so concerned_ about the _safety_ of my _daughter_."

Skidmore dramatically wrapped her arms around Olive for emphasis.

"Olive told me that she wasn't your daughter. You're her principal."

"You didn't let me finish! I meant I love her like a daughter! I treat all the children at the Ant Farm like they were mine!"

Olive narrowed her eyes. Skidmore was lying through her teeth.

"And that's exactly how'd I treat Janice." She flashed Janice a wrinkled, cheesy, smile. Janice just shot her an icy, unconvinced grin.

Skidmore seemed to recognize something in Janice. Olive could sense a light bulb flashing in Skidmore's mind. "You know what, Diplomat Takahashi? If you would just – let me have a minute to talk with dear Janice in private. I'm sure I can enlighten her as to the wonders of the Ant Farm," she said with great fanfare.

Takahashi seemed to think about that for a second. "Ok, but you two have to be right where I can see you."

"You know what, we'll be just right over there," Skidmore pointed to a spot on the beach.

While Janice and Skidmore made their way over to talk, about whatever it was Skidmore wanted to talk about, Olive was left alone with Takahashi. She could feel Takahashi examining her carefully. Olive couldn't help but squirm a little.

"So am I going to regret this?" He finally asked. "Would sending her to San Francisco to join your Ant Farm be a mistake?"

It was an honest question, and it deserved an honest answer.

Olive thought about Skidmore. Yes, she was conniving, and selfish. She thought only for her best interest. It amazed Olive that she was able to stay at Webster High as a principal for so long. Skidmore definitely was the down side to joining the Ant Farm.

But then she thought of Angus, who was the most brilliant person she had ever known when it came to computers. He came off as a creep sometimes, but he was a good friend and he was funny without knowing he was. Fletcher was her dear friend – he had a really quirky personality and despite boyish good looks, he was completely hopeless when it came to girls. But when you arm him with any drawing, painting, sculpting or chiseling material, he was able to make art that looked like they would one day belong in a museum. Finally, she thought of Chyna. Her best friend. Strong-headed and stubborn, but charming. She almost single handedly turned the Ant Farm upside down ever since she arrived at Webster High her first day of school.

They were all weird and unusual in their own way, but they made great friends. Olive realized that she would rather face high school with them than endure grade school without.

If Janice wanted to join this merry band of super weird kids, she should, Olive realized.

She looked to Takahashi, and she said, in perfect Japanese: "No, it wouldn't be a mistake."

Takahashi smiled a genuine, deep smile. Olive knew that he sensed the sincerity in her answer.

"Then it's settled. She's going to San Francisco."


	15. Beg Beg Beg

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 15

Chyna was going crazy by the day of the wedding reception. She felt thinly stretched, between hanging out with Fletcher to keep him from seeing Janice, to avoiding Lexi and Paisley who she kept almost randomly bumping into at random corners, to trying and divide her time between the Ants and Olive, whom Skidmore wouldn't let out of her sight.

There was also Cameron, who kept bugging her to talk with Maddie. Maddie was good friends with London, so he figured, with enough convincing, she would be able to get the famous heiress to meet with Cameron.

Chyna wanted to be nice, so she kept trying to meet with Maddie. But it turned out that Maddie was a very busy girl. She was very hard to find, and Chyna could never reach Maddie by phone. In a hotel as large as the Tokyo Tipton, it was a tall order to find the blonde.

And throughout the whole time looking for Maddie, she would bump into random hotel-goers who happened to know who she was.

"Oh! You're the girl that performed the Toriyama wedding!" They'd exclaim. If not that, they'd chatter excitedly in loud Japanese to her, of which she didn't understand a single thing. But it was all the same.

None of them would leave her alone until she performed an impromptu musical performance; sometimes they'd pester her to perform at their wedding, which was in a few hours.

She did three weddings so far. And she was sure if she didn't leave soon, she'd have to do more.

It never ended! She didn't know going on vacation was so exhausting!

It was bright and early still; it was going to be hours before she'd have to think to dress for the reception. But her eyes were already twitching, and she had a tic that made her right shoulder shoot up randomly every now and then.

She didn't want to look in the mirror, but she'd imagine that she had dark bags under her eyes. Not exactly the perfect picture of health to show Daddy when she came back home.

She lumbered along the hallway now, not exactly searching very hard for Maddie. It was more like random walking and hoping that she'd bump into her. If not, then it was just _too bad _for Cameron.

She made to turn the corner when two girls nearly took her head off. They were walking so fast.

Normally, she would've had good enough reflexes to balance herself after the near collision and continue right on walking. This time, she slipped and fell because she was tired to the bone.

The taller girl stopped and turned. She gasped. "Oh my god, Chyna! What are you doing here?" She walked right over to help Chyna up.

It was Paisley. "Are you all right?" She asked sweetly.

Chyna nodded tiredly. "Yea, I am. Thanks."

Paisley seemed to remember something. It took a few seconds for her to work it out, but then she looked to her friend who stood coolly as she watched the whole spectacle, "Oh! Right! Sorry, this is my friend—"

"Janice," Chyna finished for her.

"Oh wow!" Paisley's face lit up in wonder. "That's right! Chyna, are you a psychic?" She asked innocently.

Chyna laughed. "No, Paisley. We've met."

Janice was still eyeing the whole accidental meeting with a cool look.

Chyna was wondering to herself how much Janice was working out.

"Oh wow! You know each other! That is so cool! Chyna, you've got to hang out with Janice, me and Lexi. It'll be lots of fun!"

Alarm bells rang out in Chyna's head. She took hold of Paisley's shoulders with both hands. "No, Paisley. That's a bad idea. Very bad idea."

Lexi was genuinely confused. "Why would it be?"

Finally, Janice spoke. "It's a great idea, actually. We're all going to be at tonight's wedding reception. It's supposed to be the biggest gala this hotel has ever seen. You're coming. Aren't you, Chyna?" She raised a single eyebrow at Chyna, as if to dare her to say no.

Chyna sighed. She felt like she was being cornered. "Sure, of course, why wouldn't I go?" She said.

Janice nodded as if to say _I thought so_. "Paisley, I'm wondering if Chyna and I could have a few words in private."

Paisley looked to Janice. She didn't see why not. "Ok," she said brightly and walked off to leave the two alone.

After Paisley left, Janice's voice took a whole different tone. "So I see you know Paisley, AND Lexi. Small world. And tonight, it's going to get all the smaller."

Chyna smiled and took a deep breath. "Ok, maybe we can work something out. See, my friends and I are here on vacation, only we're not supposed to be. If Lexi finds out, it's going to be major trouble for us."

Janice looked like she had expected everything that Chyna just said.

"I'll invite Fletcher to the reception," Chyna continued, "but you got to promise to keep Lexi away. _Please_," she added the last word after a second.

Janice's smile bristled Chyna. "Ok, I think I can manage that."

Janice's promise did not convince Chyna, but it's not like she could've done anything about it. The ball was completely in Janice's court. If Chyna had said no, then what would've stopped Janice from spilling the beans to Lexi, _right now_?

So Chyna made up her mind. She definitely had to tell Fletcher, and while at it, she might as well invite the rest of the Ant Farm crew. She had no idea how much longer they were all going to stay in Japan. And the reception did sound like the party to be at.

She made her way for the West Wing to tell her friends, when she heard excited voices call for her. She looked. Oh joy, she thought sarcastically. More of her new fans that wanted her to take a picture with them, or maybe sing for them, or play the piano at weddings…

Her friends were just going to have to wait.


	16. First Kiss

Disclaimer:

Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 16

For two days, Fletcher was completely on Cloud 9. The other night, he had spent a whole evening with Chyna, and he couldn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't remember the last time when it was just him and her, without any Olive, and no awkwardness whatsoever.

Maybe in the early days, when she was completely oblivious to his crush. But this past year he couldn't hang out with Chyna without also having Olive with. It just felt super weird and awkward with her. And that surprise date that he and Olive had tried to arrange was a complete disaster; it made things so much worse that he hadn't got to see her all summer.

But now he was finally on the right track with Chyna again. He didn't know what exactly brought it on, but he didn't really care.

He liked it when Chyna talked to him and she didn't have to think about what she had to say. It felt _comfortable_, relaxing, and he enjoyed it.

A thought came to him. He realized that he'd rather have Chyna as just a friend than a stranger. Maybe if he'd stop making his crush so obvious with her, that she'd continue to open up with him, and then they can just _chill_.

That was better than nothing. It was obvious that she wasn't into him anyway. But then, there was that look she gave him back at the airport, and then that smile she had after he finished making a portrait of her on the garden concrete.

Ok. Now he was confused again. Argh, he thought. Girls are just confusing, period.

His stomach started growling, interrupting his thoughts. It was time to stop thinking, and start eating. He stopped walking around absentmindedly in the hotel hallways, and made a conscious effort to remember where he was in relation to the nearest food shops.

Aha, he knew where he was. If he would just go straight down this corridor, and around the corner, he knew there would be a sushi – to- go place right there. He strode briskly to the corner, picking up speed as he got nearer. Food waits for no one.

He bumped full head on with this unsuspecting girl. She almost flew off her feet, but he caught her in time. He had her by the hands.

It was that girl again. The Asian girl that he kept seeing around the hotel. This time, she was right here. Right in front of him.

He smiled a goofy smile. Already his brain was turning to mush. He was going to have to concentrate so he wouldn't look like a complete goofball, in front of a pretty face. Again.

The girl appeared to recognize him instantly. "So it's you again," she purred.

"Oh wow, you speak English," he blurted.

The girl looked mocked offended. "And why wouldn't I be able to?" She smirked.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I figured you were from around here – "

"I am from around here," she teased in perfect English. She sounded completely American. "But I also grew up with my dad's American friends. He's a diplomat so he spends a lot of time travelling between the US and Japan."

"Oh. Of course."

"I'm Janice."

"Oh! Nice name. I'm Fletcher."

"Fletcher," Janice tried the name out slowly. "Fletcher. Oh! Fletcher! Do you know Chyna by any chance?"

That ball she threw him was completely out of left field. "Chyna? Chyna Parks? Yea, of course I know her. She's one of my best friends."

"Oh, are you now," Janice's voice was extra slick. "So why is it she hadn't mentioned the gala tonight?"

"Gala?"

"You know, Haru Toriyami's wedding reception. He married this heiress Claire Debutante, and they're going to throw the biggest party this Tipton Hotel has ever seen. It's the party to be at. I invited Chyna. And I told her to invite her friends. So, why is it…that she hasn't mentioned it to you?"

"That's, a good question," Fletcher answered dully.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, at any rate. You're invited, and your friends are invited too. Everybody is going to be there, and we'll have a blast."

Fletcher nodded. "Ok, that sounds cool. So I guess, I'll go and tell my friends right now."

"Not so fast," she stopped him with her hand on his chest. "Do you have a suit?"

Fletcher was about to answer yes, he'd brought one just in case for fancy hotel dinners when Janice declared: "You and I are going shopping."

Fletcher was finding it hard to keep up with his new friend, even though she was wearing heels and he had sneakers on. She walked in medium, quick strides with her shoulder bag trailing behind her like a flag on a sports car.

He was an artist, not an athlete. He was used to moving in sprints, but this girl just kept going and going and going…

He tried hard not to make it seem like he was gasping for breath. He looked at Janice with forced casualness, like walking at this speed was really no big deal. But really, inside, he was counting the seconds until they'd reach the destination of wherever it was Janice was taking him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Janice finally stopped. But it wasn't exactly the store he had in mind. He was thinking dress suits, not wet suits. Janice was standing right in front of a swimwear store.

"You and I, are going swimming," Janice announced.

"Really?" He blushed. "I dunno. I don't exactly t-tan well," he stammered.

Janice admonished him with a raised finger. "Don't spoil the party," she ordered.

"Uhm. Ok."

It wasn't before long that he found himself outside, in swimming trunks, in the water with Janice. They were in the shallow end for now. But the pool was huge, and he was sure that the water got real deep by the far end.

The sun was high in the sky, and the water felt right for swimming. Still, there weren't many people at the pool right now. Just a few families playing around with each other at their end of the pool.

Janice was armed with swim paddles, and she looked to him expectedly. "Ready to hit the deep end?"

Fletcher nodded hesitatingly. He was ok with swimming, but not the best. And he tired easily. But this really pretty girl wanted to spend time with him in the pool, so he might as well give it a shot.

"Ready when you are," he said. He had to laugh at Janice who seemed to clutch to her swimming pad like a life preserver.

"Don't laugh!" She defended, with a smile on her face. "I can't swim well. _These_," she brought his attention to the paddles, "are the only way I can get to the deep end."

Fletcher wasn't going to mock her anymore. "Sure, ok." Then he added, "Race you there."

And he was off.

He felt like it was taking forever to get to the deep end. He made good headway at first, but then he started tiring, and the going got slower. He needed to stop, take a break for now. So he broke the surface of the water to take a breath, and check how much longer to the far end of the pool. It turned out he wasn't even halfway.

Great. He felt like just walking out of the pool and meeting Janice at the far end. But then, he looked around the pool. There was no one swimming to the far end.

He looked behind him to see splashing. Lots of splashing. Then he realized, oh wow, it must be Janice! She was drowning; she must've lost her grip on the swimming pad!

He swam toward her as fast as he could. She was still splashing, which was a good sign. It meant that she was keeping her head above water. He grabbed his one arm around her body and paddled with his other arm to the wall.

She relaxed into his arm as they made their wall to the wall.

"Thanks," she said.

Her face was really close to his. They were still in the water. They each had one arm draped on top of the pool wall to keep themselves above water.

Janice was the one to make the first move, and leaned in.

The kiss was quick. It was over before Fletcher knew what was happening.

That was Fletcher's first ever kiss. He decided that he liked it.

Little did he know, two pairs of eyes had seen the whole thing from on top of the London Suite.


	17. We'll Go Anyway

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 17

"Aw, would you look at that?" Olive looked down through the large window of the London Suite. "Fletcher kissing a girl! Who would've ever thought of that! In Tokyo! This is history in the making!"

"It's…great," Chyna agreed.

Olive stopped from her Fletcher – gazing for a second to study her friend. Chyna seemed a lot more reserved that she'd expected her to be.

"No, you don't understand," Olive tried to explain. "This kinda thing has never happened to Fletcher, like, ever! I've been his friend since kindergarten. He'd shared with me so many stories - some funny, some gross, some plain weird – and none of them had anything to do with kissing a girl, not even once. This is like his first EVER!"

Chyna nodded to show that she understood. Still, she didn't seem even a little more excited for Fletcher.

Olive decided that her next bit of news would bring a little more reaction from Chyna. "That girl he just kissed – that's Janice Takahashi – she's that world class swimmer that Skidmore wanted me to help recruit. And not only that – we succeeded, she's going to join us at the Ant Farm."

"WHAT?"

Chyna looked worried, like she had a test to take in like ten minutes, and she didn't study for it _at all_.

Olive was concerned for her friend. "Chyna, are you ok?"

Chyna took a deep breath, and she looked composed again. "I'm fine, I'm ok."

"You sure?"

Chyna just nodded.

"That girl is a snake," Chyna finally said.

"What?"

"Think about it! World class swimmer, but she pretends to drown, and she needs _Fletcher_ of all people to rescue her? I'm telling you, Olive, that girl is evil, _and_ I think she's going to make sure Lexi catches us tonight, at the party."

"Wait, she knows Lexi? Lexi is here?"

After Chyna caught Olive up to speed, Olive asked, "So why not just skip the party? And if she decides to tell Lexi, we'll hide, so Lexi won't find us?"

"I sort of thought about that, but her kissing Fletcher down there changes things. He'll definitely want to go to the party." And then there was the whole matter of Janice following them all the way back to the Ant Farm. There was no hiding from it.

"And who could blame him?" Olive put her hand on Chyna's shoulder. "His first girlfriend. I say we let him go to the party. We're all going to go back home eventually. At least this way, he can say that he had the time of his life in Tokyo, and he did it all with the very first girl to ever like him back."

Chyna's shoulders slumped. "Yea, I guess you're right."

"So what are we going to wear to the party?"

"I don't know," Chyna answered. But then she leaned in, "I think I know where we can get some clothes."

Hours later, Olive was up to her neck in London's clothes and footwear. She'd long since discovered the perfect dress to wear for the party: a simple, yet elegant white dress with pink straps. The horror was finding the right pair of shoes to match!

"No, that's not right, maybe this, nope, this doesn't work at all -" she said as she threw shoes after shoes after shoes over her shoulder. She felt a little like a puppy digging for the perfect bone to chew on.

"Hey!" She brightened. She stopped to inspect a pair that looked like it might work with her dress – a pair of slingback pumps in sand leather. She tried it on and inspected herself in front of a mirror.

_ Voila_! The combination worked. She loved the look, but after inspecting herself further, she frowned. Something was missing…

She decided that it was probably the hair. It needed, more volume. It looked flat, and very plain. Suddenly, she felt down. What was she doing playing dress up? She was just Olive Doyle, your typical, next-doorsy, regular girl, not some hot-shot celebrity about to prowl the red carpet.

She walked out the closet, and down the steps, when she heard – "Wow, you're smoking hot! You look even better than Maddie in that bikini!"

Angus's jaw dropped so low that Olive blushed. The longer he stared, the more red she got.

To get him to do more talking and less staring, Olive teased, "So is that all I am to you? Another hot blonde?"

Angus scoffed. "No! Why would you think that?" Angus looked like that was the stupidest thing Olive had ever said.

Olive was skeptical. "Really?"

Angus looked uncomfortable now. "Of course! You're much more than that!" That was all he had to say on the subject, and began to walk away – but Olive blocked his path.

"Like what?" She challenged.

Angus was silent.

"See," Olive was triumphant, "I bet you don't know a thing about me."

"_Please_. I know your birthday is August 25, 2000 and you were born in Fresno, California. Your eyes are hazel green, and you have a birthmark in your – "

"HEY! You shouldn't know that! And anyway, those are all things you can probably look up on the computer," she said with a hmph.

"True. I also know that your favorite thing to eat at the cafeteria is baked potatoes. You're really scared of the mashed kind because you think they're un-natural. If you're feeling cross with someone, you kinda squint your eyes – yea, kinda like what you're doing right now. You love little kids. You're an only kid, but I bet you've always wanted a younger sister – "

"How would you know that?"

"I see it in your eyes. I have a lot of only kids in my extended family."

"Oh – I see." Angus certainly paid a lot more attention to her than she'd thought.

"Yep._ Anyway_, can we take this talk somewhere else? I'm hungry."

Olive shrugged. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"There's this ice cream place just around the corner that I want to take you to. They supposedly make the best black sesame – "

"Oh! What's that?"

"Only the best ice cream flavor in the world! It kinda has this peanut butter after-taste to it, but it's not peanut butter – "

Together, the two made their walk to the shop.


	18. Time to Get Yer Party ON

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

Chapter 18

The Tipton Ballroom was as spacious as a football stadium. High arching ceilings composed of a patchwork of gray beams and glass let in large amounts of moonlight. The natural lighting of the ballroom gave the impression that the party was outdoors.

Hundreds of tables and seats filled the outer edges of the floor, with a large dance floor in the middle, and a massive stage at the far end for musical performers.

Chyna, Olive, and the rest of the girls from the Ant Farm strolled inside the ballroom dressed head to toe in London's finest clothes.

The Ants drew quite a lot of attention as they made their way to their tables. Heads from the younger boys at the party craned to sneak a peak at all the pretty ladies making their late entrance, and several people had recognized Chyna. "Hey, that's the music girl!" Chorused several fans.

Chyna just grinned and kept her head down. Usually, she liked the attention, but tonight wasn't the night for it. The Ants chose to occupy the tables all the way in the back. It was best not to call too much attention to themselves.

With any luck, Chyna hoped - they were going to enjoy the night, Skidmore wouldn't make too much of a scene, and they would all head home _after_ they enjoyed the party.

Over by somewhere in the middle tables, Chyna spotted Fletcher dressed dashingly in a handsome suit, seated at the same table as Janice. It was like he knew where Chyna was, because he took one look over his shoulder at Chyna's direction. He did not smile. He just looked at her and turned his attention back to Janice. Chyna didn't know how she felt about that.

Besides that, things were good so far. Chyna hadn't spotted Lexi Reed just yet. There was no sign of Skidmore either, which was even better. She relaxed, just a little. Maybe they would be able to get a few dances in before Lexi started stirring up trouble.

Chyna spotted Gibson, dressed in a haphazard ensemble of a really bad suit, making his way over to them. His fro was really sticking out there – it was as if he grew an extra head of hair overnight.

He plopped himself down in a seat next to Chyna. He grinned at her, "These are great seats! And it looks like it's going to be an awesome party!" He turned to Angus, "Thanks for letting me know, dude! Luckily, I had this spare suit in my luggage!"

Chyna glared at Angus's direction. He shrugged as if to say _What, I wasn't supposed to tell him? _Then, he went back to eating his m&m's while he listened to the guest speakers.

An hour passed. The Ants had managed to make it all the way to the dancing portion of the party without a hitch, and once the music started playing, Chyna found herself doing less worrying about what was going to happen tonight, and more vibing to the beat.

And she wasn't the only one having fun. Already, over the music, she could hear Olive going crazy over the fruit punch. She saw Angus over to her left, owning the dance floor. Cameron was doing his best Chris Brown imitation; he attempted dance moves she hoped he'd never try again. She even spotted Gibson taking part in the action – he was dancing with some pretentious looking lady with a snobby nose, who for some reason seemed to find Gibson really appealing. Her dancing reminded Chyna of a tone deaf peacock.

The only person she hadn't spotted yet – was Fletcher. She found him after a minute - there he was, dancing with his new girl, Janice, and they were looking in each other's eyes. Chyna suppressed the urge to gag.

Then - Chyna didn't know why she was doing it – she made her way to Fletcher. She tapped her finger on Fletcher's shoulder. He turned and she smiled at him, "Maybe I have this dance?"

Janice looked appalled that she would have the nerve. Fletcher just stared blankly at Chyna. Chyna couldn't tell what he was thinking. Then, the music changed to a slow song. Finally, Fletcher said, to Janice, "Can you give the two of us alone to talk?"

Janice looked incensed. She stormed off, leaving Chyna and Fletcher to talk.

Fletcher was first to talk. "You weren't going to let me know about the party," he said.

"I was going to tell you, but I kinda got held up," Chyna explained.

"So you were going to tell me?" He asked, looking straight into her eyes. He expected an honest answer, she knew.

Fletcher's eyes were blue – piercing blue. Chyna had never taken the time to look at them until now. "Well – maybe… I'd like to think I would've."

Fletcher just scoffed. That wasn't a good enough answer.

"Look, Lexi was – is- going to be at this party. She's going to find us out, blab to Skidmore, and get us all in trouble. And then we'd all be sent home early." Even to Chyna's ears, the excuse sounded a little lame.

Fletcher shrugged. "We were all going to have to go home sometime."

Chyna slumped. "Yea, that's exactly what Olive said."

"Can't you just admit that you're a little jealous?" Fletcher blurted.

Chyna was taken back by his boldness.

"Listen, I am not jealous-"

But Chyna couldn't say more - she spotted Janice out the corner of her eye, with Lexi in tow – Janice pointed Lexi straight to Chyna, and then to Gibson, Angus, Fletcher and the rest of the Ants –

The flash in Lexi's eyes told Chyna they were toast.

Lexi marched straight to Chyna, and demanded, "What in the world are you Ants doing here?" Her high voice carried loud and clear over the slow music.

Chyna wilted a bit underneath the high shrill of her voice. Then, out of desperation – maybe even a little sense of hope - she decided maybe she could try appealing to Lexi's good side. "It's a long story. But could you try not ratting us out to Skidmore? …Please."

"Too late. I already talked to Skidmore. She's on her way to the ballroom now."

"Oh man."

"Oh man is right!" Principal's Skidmore called from somewhere in the crowd. After some pushing and shoving and grunting, Skidmore had made her way through the crowd. She fixed her eyes immediately at Chyna. Almost as if choreographed, every Ant stepped away from Chyna, leaving her the sole focus of Skidmore's attention.

"What in the world is going on here?" Skidmore demanded. Then, in an aside meant just for Chyna, "I would've been to this party sooner, but I couldn't pick out the right dress. Does this look good?"

"It's the right dress."

"Good. Now DO YOU CARE TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF, young lady?"

"It's a long story."

"Oh, just give me the cliffnotes! I don't care about the little details."

A deep, authoritative voice called out: "The young lady can tell you all about it, _outside_ of the ballroom."

Everybody turned to the voice. It was a security guard, large, imposing, with a serious face. He looked at the Ants, then at Skidmore, Gibson - even Lexi. "Do any of you have any authorization to be here? I'd like to see the passes, please."

When none of them could produce the passes, the security guard boomed: "All right then, everybody out! Let's go! Come on!" He ushered everybody out, even Lexi.

Janice tried to say: "But Lexi can stay – " but the security guard wasn't hearing it. So Lexi too, was thrown out into the hallway.

In the hallway, Skidmore was taking turns interrogating everybody.

"So you really thought that this was a school trip? In the middle of August?" Skidmore grilled Gibson.

Gibson shrugged. "I thought maybe you'd wanted to start early?" He suggested hopefully.

Skidmore groaned, then turned to Angus: "And did you really hack into three different websites to get everybody here?"

This was essentially everybody's biggest fear about getting found out. Hacking was a serious offense, and if Skidmore wanted to tell… well, everybody would get into serious trouble, with the law.

Angus couldn't look Skidmore in the eye, "Well, yea."

"Well that is just terrible!" Skidmore produced a women's online catalogue from her purse. "You should've told me earlier! Do you think you can still get me these clothes for free?"

Angus beamed at his principal. "Well, of course I can!"

"Well then, good. And what about this?" She leans in to whisper something to Angus.

Angus said, "Easily!"

"Well then, I suppose there's nothing else to talk about here." Skidmore pointed to Olive. "That one," Skidmore said to Gibson," annoys me. I'm not taking her home with me, you can have her."

Olive hmph-ed, while Gibson said, "Sure, Olive can go home with us."

"Well, that's that, then." Skidmore looked longingly at the door, which led to the ballroom. "It's too bad. That seemed like a good party."

Lexi shrieked. "That's it? You're just going to let everybody off the hook?" She asked Skidmore.

Skidmore smiled deviously. "Well, not exactly. "

All eyes were on Skidmore now, wondering what she meant.

"I wouldn't report Angus to the _authorities," _the principal said as if this much was obvious, "that would lead to _way_ too much hassle and questioning. And then there would be the grave possibility that my lovely trophies – I mean, _students_ – would be forced to leave the Ant Farm. We can't have that."

"There is a much easier, and cleaner way to punish you guys," Skidmore continued, "When I get home from Japan I am calling each and every one of your parents."

The ants broke out into a huge clamor.

"You can't do that!"

"What would my mom say?"

"I'm going to have _no_ life!"

Skidmore silenced them with a hand. "Too bad! So I suggest you guys enjoy this trip while you can!" Skidmore sang as she walked off.

Lexi turned to face the Ants, a pleased look on her face. She scrunched her perky nose at the Ants as she smiled, then walked off in Skidmore's direction.

Then, it was just the Ants left in the hallway. They stood there glumly, not knowing what to do, and slowly, everyone started to go their separate ways..

So the night was over, Chyna thought glumly. She made to walk off as well, when – a noise from down the hallway – a loud ball of energy came storming down the hallway, with Maddie trailing behind her -

"Itttt's meee, back from Paris," sang London Tipton.

"Hold on – let me catch my breath - weren't you in China?" Maddie asked, after a few seconds.

"Yea, I was in China," London turned to Maddie, "but then I made a pit stop to Paris to pick up these pair of shoes," she gestured to the shoes that she had on. "They look great, right?"

"Right," Maddie deadpanned.

"Of course! Anyway, what are you all doing out in the hallway?" London asked as she took a look at everybody in party clothes. She made special note of all the female Ants. "You girls have great taste. I have those exact outfits in closet number 2, 4 and 15!" She exclaimed.

Maddie whispered to Chyna, "And yet that girl still can't recite the Alphabet."

"Well come on in, everybody!" London gestured to everybody. "No way are these party clothes going to waste!"

"But the bouncer kicked us out -" Olive tried to explain.

"Freddie? That man is a kitten. He wouldn't turn away anyone _I_ bring to a party."

In two's and three's everybody went back inside the ballroom. Chyna made to follow, and Cameron nudged her aside. "Watch yourself, squirt. It's time I introduce myself to the lovely London Tipton." He stuck out a hand to London. "Hi I'm C-"

"Don't care!" London said brightly, and then burst through the ballroom doors, ready to take on the life of the party.

Chyna frowned apologetically to Cameron, who was unfazed: "Don't worry, she's just getting warmed up to me."

Chyna rolled her eyes, then returned to the dance floor.

It was there where she found a familiar looking man talking to Janice. He turned to Chyna, recognition lit on his face. "I was just talking to Janice about you!"

Chyna smiled. "Hi again! How's it going with the new bride?"

Haru Toriyami's grin was impossibly large. "I'm having a great time!" He answered very loudly. But then he leans in, in a hushed whisper, "Nightmare!"

"Anyway," he continued, "let's talk about you. How would you like to sing a few songs for us?"

"Um, you mean now?"

"Oh, yes! Turns out you have a big following here at the party. The band over there," he pointed over her shoulder, "will be willing to play whatever you want."

This was going to be Chyna's biggest "concert" yet. "Sure."

"Ok, come with me now." He ushered her through the throng of dancers hitting the floor - she brushed shoulders with a few Japanese boys – they winked and nodded at her – she smiled politely –

Suddenly she found herself on the center of the front stage. It all went very quickly after that, for her. She started out with a melody, strumming a guitar. It was a song she had on the back – burner, that she'd worked on from time to time back at San Francisco. The band, after a while, were able to pick up the beat and join in.

And then, she started singing. The crowd got increasingly louder with every note she sang –

The energy picked up fast! Before long, she was belting encore after encore as if she'd been doing concerts her entire life. It felt good, and she might've gone on forever if she had unlimited energy.

Eventually, she stepped off the stage to deafening applause. She spotted Olive with her hands cupped around her mouth like a bullhorn, shouting "Chyna!" and Fletcher slipping her a thumbs up while he danced with Janice.

The rest of the Ants were all smiles, and slapped congrats on her back and shoulders.

"You were awesome!"

"You rocked, Chyna!"

"Everybody back home's going to be so jealous when you tell them!"

After a while, everybody got back to just dancing again. Chyna was thankful that the attention was off of her for now. She went to the table to grab some punch. She was done with songs for the night -

"I can see why Skidmore wouldn't budge," she heard Janice's voice.

Chyna turned to the star athlete, confused.

"I'd laid down an ultimatum," Janice explained. "The only way I was going to go to the Ant Farm, was if she'd kick you out."

Chyna raised an eyebrow. "Ok?"

"But Skidmore was adamant. She'd said something about you having way too much talent to slip off her hands." Janice rolled her eyes.

Janice made to turn back to the dance floor, but turned back to Chyna. "We could've probably been good friends. If only you weren't _way_ too interested in Fletcher."

This was confusing. "What are you going on about?" Chyna wondered, and then Janice surprised her with a high, uproarious laugh, that wasn't fake or pretentious, but with great mirth. It was as if Janice'd finally discovered the hilarious punch line to a complicated joke.

"You really don't know yet, do you?" Janice asked.

"Don't know what?"

"How much you really like him."

Chyna was left to chew on those words the rest of the night.


	19. Always

Disclaimer: Do not own Ant Farm

*update in A/N on the bottom for those interested 8/7/11

Chapter 19

The Ants ended up staying a whole week after the party. They had continued staying in London's Suite, but there were a few adjustments to be made. More Ants had to share rooms now because London wanted more room for her new clothes.

As for Fletcher – well - he had a great time the rest of the week. The only problem was that he didn't spend any time at all with Chyna.

He spent practically all of it with his new girlfriend, Janice. They spent a great deal of their time together in the pool. Janice had stopped pretending she was a wimp at swimming, and was swimming circles around Fletcher all the time now. It didn't bother him at all though. Watching her swim amazed him.

As he got to know Janice, Fletcher found that he really liked her company. He thought she made a good girlfriend. She happened to have a quirky sense of humor, like Olive, and she was probably just as confident and stubborn as Chyna, maybe even more so. He couldn't understand what everybody's grumbling about her was about.

If Fletcher wasn't spending time with Janice, he was spending it with Angus and Tyler at the arcades. A week was more than enough time for the three of them to attain the necessary 35 billion tokens for the grand prize – _five total times_.

He didn't need five grand prizes though. Just the one. And he had his eye on it the whole time.

The Ants boarded the plane to go back home all at the same time. Even Janice was there. All the Ants glared daggers at her the entire flight home.

The rest of the summer before school went quietly, but quickly. Before he knew it, it was time for the first day of classes tomorrow – and the start of his "senior year." He didn't know how he felt about his "senior year." He wasn't going to turn 15 until a few more months from now. It felt too soon to be a senior in high school. And then college was around the corner!

He didn't know how he felt about that.

But what he did know, was who he wanted to spend the last day of summer with. He picked up his phone, and made the call.

Chyna Parks met up with him at 5:45 pm sharp, by the boardwalk where she had given him "the talk," all those weeks ago. She was dressed simply in a shirt and sneakers. Just the way he'd always liked her. She gave him her trademark ear to ear grin. His heart didn't swoon, but it did flutter a little.

"So what's up, Fletcher? Long time no see."

Fletcher smiled and shrugged. "I just wanted to hang out."

"Cool," China said. She pointed to a spot behind him. "What's that?"

Fletcher winced. He was hoping she wouldn't spot it right away. But, he figured he might as well give it to her now.

He walked over to the bench, bent down, and produced in his hands, a Gibson-Hummingbird Acoustic/Electric guitar.

Chyna marveled at the sight. "Oh no, you didn't!"

"I did," Fletcher said.

She hugged him, tight. She'd never hugged him this long and hard before. Her hair smelled of peaches.

"This is great!" She beamed. "How'd you manage to buy this?" She held the guitar in her hands, studying it the way he'd study a work of art.

Fletcher decided to be honest. "I didn't. I just spent all week playing at the arcades trying to win enough tokens to get the grand prize." He paused, "Tyler helped, a little."

"Oh wow," Chyna said. But then a thought seemed to occur to her, "Why didn't you use the tokens you saved up for Janice?"

"I thought about it. But then I realized that I didn't _want_ to give her a present. I'd always thought about you, the whole time I was playing for the prize."

Chyna's eyes grew impossibly large and sparkled. Her lips formed a silent "aww."

Chyna hugged him again, even longer than a minute ago, and when she turned her head to face him, Fletcher's brain felt like shutting down. She was so close. Her large eyes fell on his – they were so large, and dark – he wished the moment could've lasted forever, but it was over before he knew it. She nestled her head on his shoulders as they both looked to the horizon.

"You better never let Janice find out about the guitar. I'd bet she'd have a fit."

Fletcher laughed. "Maybe."

"We'll always be friends, right Fletcher?" she asked.

Fletcher smiled as he stared at the sun. "Always."

_The End_.

A/N:

A few tidbits I'd like to share with you about this story, for those who might care:

-I wrote 90 percent of the story before I posted the first chapter. That was how I was able to upload everything so fast

-The 10 percent of work I had to do after posting the 1st chapter was actually surprisingly, painstakingly hard. It was a chore and it gave me newfound respect for writers who do this for a living. If a novel had taken one year to finish, I'm sure now they probably spent at least half that time on re-writing. Nevertheless, I'm sure if I were to comb through the story again RIGHT NOW I'd probably still find things wrong with it so I'm not going to fret over it anymore. It's just my hope that I've done enough to make my work nice, clear and easy to read.

-This is only the second story I've ever finished – EVER. The first time shouldn't even count because it was a short story I had to do for a school project many years ago. So I feel really proud of this fanfic!

-I left an opening for a sequel, but I haven't the faintest clue how to start. And I'd probably only do it if I discover a great plot. I don't want to do a sequel if it's not going to be at least as good as the first.

-I don't know if you guys can tell, but I found Skidmore the easiest character to write, by far. After that, it was Fletcher, and then Cameron (maybe it was cuz Cameron's role in this story was so tiny). Chyna was fine, but Olive was hard! She's way funnier in the show than she is in my story! (The Phantom Locker episode is probably still my favorite episode to date, with The Informants close behind).

-It was my original intention to find cameo appearances for CeCe and Rocky but I replaced them with London and Maddie. They just fit in the plot way better.

-I hope you guys aren't disappointed that Fletcher and Chyna didn't kiss. I tried not to mislead you guys by labeling the story under genres friendship/ humor.

-Final note: I hope you guys enjoyed the story, cuz I enjoyed writing it!

*UPDATE* I already have 7 chapters written on the sequel. I already know where I want to take the story, but I'm slowing down and won't be able to write as fast now because I've gotten busier at work. So I don't know when I'm going to start uploading the sequel. Take care.


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